12 medals in 12 events: Here’s what it cost Quah Zheng Wen

He competed in 12 events over the course of six days and medalled in every one of them, bringing home a tidy haul of seven golds, four silvers and one bronze.

In the process, Quah Zheng Wen also broke six Games records – three individual and three relays.

It is no surprise that the 19-year-old is “overexerted, super exhausted and super spent” by the end of the swim competition on Thursday.

“I was tired by day three and that was only halfway through the meet,” he revealed. “But I just got my head down, focused on the remaining events and took it one day at a time.”

“I’m literally dead on my bed each night and I’ve been sleeping late because of random doping tests I have to do every day. By the time it's done, I eat dinner at about 11.30pm and go to sleep around 1am."

The next closest person in terms of medal count was Vietnamese swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien who initially was listed for all 19 events, but ended up swimming in 12 and winning 10 medals.

“It’s been really tough for me,” said Quah. “I’m also a bit sick and I cough myself to sleep. I can’t wait to go back and sleep without having to set an alarm, as well as eat crap.

“I’m ready to let the diet go."

Quah was part of the final event – the men’s 4x100m medley relay – where the powerhouse team of Quah, Joseph Schooling, Clement Lim and Lionel Khoo brought home gold medal number 23 for Singapore in 3:38.25, erasing the old mark of 3:41.35 set in 2011.

“I think this team just has a lot of talent. The results speak for itself,” added Schooling, who achieved his target of nine gold medals at this meet.

“We are better than the previous teams and that’s a really good step for Singapore swimming. It’s an evolution of coaching and training. Hopefully we keep improving like that.”